Loving the Book of Mormon Verse by Verse

25  And behold, I prepare you against these things; for ye cannot cross this great deep save I prepare you against the waves of the sea, and the winds which have gone forth, and the floods which shall come. I learned two things that I love from this verse documenting God's interactions with the brother of Jared. First, we are all going to have obstacles come into our life. There is something comforting about being forewarned that there is a great deep, waves, winds, and floods that will make life challenging. Having the right expectations somehow makes some things more manageable. Second, there is reason to believe that God has prepared us for every challenge we have faced and will face in life. God has given us attributes, experiences, knowledge, and relationships that allow us to flourish when the difficulties of life come upon us. Looking back now, I can see this pattern in my own life. One example comes from my mission. I often felt discouraged during my mission because of limi...

  3  Then will ye longer deny the Christ, or can ye behold the Lamb of God? Do ye suppose that ye shall dwell with him under a   consciousness   of your guilt? Do ye suppose that ye could be happy to dwell with that holy Being, when your souls are racked with a consciousness of guilt that ye have ever abused his laws? 4  Behold, I say unto you that ye would be more miserable to dwell with a holy and just God, under a consciousness of your  filthiness  before him, than ye would to dwell with the  damned  souls in  hell . 5  For behold, when ye shall be brought to see your  nakedness  before God, and also the glory of God, and the  holiness  of Jesus Christ, it will kindle a flame of unquenchable fire upon you. 6  O then ye  unbelieving ,  turn  ye unto the Lord; cry mightily unto the Father in the name of Jesus, that perhaps ye may be found spotless,  pure , fair, and white, having been cl...

17  They were once a delightsome people, and they had Christ for their   shepherd ; yea, they were led even by God the Father. 18  But now, behold, they are  led  about by Satan, even as chaff is driven before the wind, or as a vessel is tossed about upon the waves, without sail or anchor, or without anything wherewith to steer her; and even as she is, so are they. Mormon creates beautiful images here that capture an underrated blessing of being a disciple of Jesus Christ: purpose. Chaff being blown around or a boat being pushed in every direction describe for me a life without direction, pushed from one thing to the next. Discipleship on the other hand imbues every moment with purpose - every decision can meaningfully impact oneself and others around them. Every decision can draw us closer to or farther from our Heavenly Father. I can imagine how that kind of meaning could feel like a heavy weight - what if you do make choices that take you away from God? Well,...